Hazelwick School Newsletter
February 2021
HeadlinesHeadlines Dates for your Diary: MsMs A A Fearon, Fearon, Headteacher Headteacher
Tue 2nd March: Year 8, Parents’/Carers’ May I start by sending my very best wishes to every member of our school community Evening in these challenging times. I would like to thank you, once again - students, parents, carers and all staff at Hazelwick, for your unwavering efforts and support as well as for Mon 8th Mar - Fri 19th Mar: Year 13, Mock Exams the many positive messages that so many of you email into the school.
Following the announcement from the Prime Minister on Monday, and the plethora of information sent to us by the government and the Department for Education, we are th working hard to ensure the safe return of students and staff in the week of Monday 8 March. I will of course be writing to you regularly to update you with relevant information as we are able to do so.
In spite of the many current challenges, we are continuing to provide a quality education for our students and I am thrilled to be able to celebrate their achievements with you in the pages of this month’s newsletter. Many areas from across the school have highlighted the outstanding academic work of our students as well as some of the extra-curricular activities that they have engaged in. I hope you will enjoy reading about them as much as I have.
The School Site in Spring
Those of us who have been able to work in school during the past few weeks will have noticed that the first signs of spring have been obvious across the campus. Thank you to our hard-working premises and grounds team for keeping the site in such beautiful condition. We are immensely fortunate to have such a wonderful, spacious site for all who work and study here and we look forward to welcoming back all our staff and students who will once again be able to enjoy it first-hand.
All good wishes Page 2
News, Events & Activities from the
Psychology Department...
As part of the course, Year 12 students are required to carry out their own practical activities and they have not let remote learning stop them!
Students volunteered to participate in research carried out over Zoom. The aim was to find out if there is a relationship between personality type and saliva production. The students completed Eysenck’s personality test followed by the lemon test to measure saliva production. Following this, they have written up their research and produced some fantastic reports. Well done year 12!
Year 13 have been learning about mental health and the differing views on the causes of mental illness as well as treatments. They have been working hard applying their knowledge to exam questions. Well done Year 13!
Miss Barlow Page 3
News, Events & Activities from the
Psychology Department Continued...
Page 4
Dine in Geography Discussion for February
The Geography department has created a regular feature for the newsletter - ‘Dine in Geography discussion.’ The aim is to create geographical discussion around the dinner table between students and parents/carers, based on significant and topical issues.
This month’s discussion question is ‘Antarctica - the last wilderness on Earth.’
Menu Appetizer Watch this short clip on Antarctica - would you like to visit Antarctica or not? Explain your reasoning. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYKpF6ijqw4
Starter Where is Antarctica? Who owns Antarctica? Do any humans live there permanently? Main What are the biggest threats to Antarctica and why? Are these threats caused by humans or nature?
Side What is value of Antarctica for humans? Why are scientists based there? Dessert To what extent should we manage Antarctica in the future? If you’re still hungry for more discussion – Should humans be allowed to enter Antarctica at all or should it be left to be the last wilderness on earth?
Ms. Frampton & Mr Salmon Page 5
News, Events & Activities from the
English Department...
Year 8 have been learning about the typical conventions of Shakespeare's comedies and have been demonstrating their knowledge by using storyboardthat.com to re-create the plot of Twelfth Night.
Here are a few of my favourites from Ellen Charman-Lodge, Ellen Whitlock and Samirah Badurdeen.
Miss Bansal
Page 6
News, Events & Activities from the
English Department Continued...
Page 7 News, Events & Activities from the
Science Department...
Year 8 were asked to design a state of the art greenhouse as part of their topic on Photosynthesis
Chloe Byrne – saved on land space for the farmer by stacking the crops on shelves like they do in the Netherlands.
Alice Cox - had sprinklers that turned on at specific times of the day and a glass roof that could open to help with air circulation. Samantha also had a small fire in the corner to provide warmth to speed up photosynthesis and provide CO2.
Samantha Marshall – showed great digital skills by designing hers on the computer. Samantha included solar panels to charge the electricity used inside and provided eco-friendly LED lights and sprinklers. Samantha wanted to make it as financially viable for the farmer as possible so it wasn’t expensive to set up.
This is work from Maryam Moghul (11xTr) who designed a summary poster on the topic of Ecology. Page 8 News, Events & Activities from the
Science Department Continued...
A Year 7 science class explored the question "why adding salt to water will make an egg
float!" They will tell you "it's because of density!"
Most of the class did this investigation as a 'Science-along' on Zoom, while 4 of the students carried the experiment out it in one of our science labs. It was great to see some 'hands-on' science being done, both at-home and in the school lab, and only 1 egg was cracked in a class of 25 - top skills!
Mr Hulks
News, Events & Activities from Heads of Year 9... As part of her Duke of Edinburgh award, Laura Poirier in 9YMO has been volunteering at the registered charity, Crawley Free Shop. They are a charity that provides a safe space to help families in Crawley with things such as tea, coffee, pasta, nappies, washing powder and other essential items.
Laura's volunteer work consists of picking up donations and sorting the donations into paper bags of portion sizes (for example 6 scoops of washing powder per bag). Laura then takes the donations to Crawley Free Shop on a Sunday morning, ready to be given to families in need.
The Year 9 Team is extremely proud of Laura and her efforts to help her local community in such a meaningful way. Well done Laura!
Heads of Year 9 Page 9 News, Events & Activities from the
Design Technology Department...
Year 9 & 11 students have been enhancing their CAD work on Google Sketchup. Year 9 have been creating property images for a ‘Grand Designs’ brief, inspired by Design Movements. Page 10 News, Events & Activities from the
Design Technology Department
Continued...
Year 9 students were challenged to design
bespoke Disney theme park uniforms. Here are some of their fantastic designs.
Page 11 News, Events & Activities from the
Design Technology Department
Continued...
Celebrating careers in Design & Technology and Engineering. Year 8 students have produced some fantastic job profile posters. Here is a small selection of the career pathways that they looked into as a result. Page 12 News, Events & Activities from the
Drama Department...
Year 7 Drama – Peter Pan
Year 7 Drama students have been able to experience high quality live theatre from their own homes, thanks to the National Theatre’s free subscription to their Schools Collection during lockdown. Students have been watching Pater Pan (performed and recorded at the National Theatre in 2018). As part of the students’ analysis of the play they have also been practising their use of voice and accent, creating masks and recording themselves performing monologues from the play. We have had such an array of interesting and creative responses to the work, which shows the vast talent for Drama in the year group.
Below are some examples of the incredible work submitted:
Charlotte Bedwell (7JPL) made this excellent crocodile puppet, complete with snapping jaws! Hook had better watch out!
This Year 7 student made a superb mask for one of Tiger Lily’s wolves. He even took fur from his dog to adorn the mask and make it look more realistic! I hope his dog isn’t too cold now!
Abigail Dodd (7KBO) performed an incredibly accomplished monologue as Captain Hook, showing excellent control of voice and movement and an utterly engaging character. She even went to the trouble of making a hook for the character out of tin foil! What resourcefulness!
Mrs Grubb Page 13 News, Events & Activities from the
Music Department...
Hazelwick Virtual Concert
Our first virtual concert premiered on Thursday 11th February and was a roaring success!
Students from our GCSE classes in Year 9, 10 and 11, performed a variety of pieces from Musical Theatre to Rock, and Pop to Game Music.
The concert concluded with a performance of Bruno Mars’ song Count on Me, which was sung by over 200 students from Years 7 and 8.
You can watch the performance here - https://tinyurl.com/hazelwickmusic
Congratulations to all who participated in the concert. You were all fantastic.
Mr Bayliss Head of Music
Page 14 News, Events & Activities from the
Food Preparation & Nutrition
Department...
Our Year 8 made some delicious pizza during lockdown.
During lockdown our Year 10 Food Preparation and Nutrition students had cook-along sessions and produced these beautiful Art Focaccia breads.
Year 8 looked at careers within the food industry and designed some enticing job
adverts.
Page 15 News, Events & Activities from the
History Department...
History students in all year groups have been working hard throughout the last half-term and have submitted some excellent work.
Year 7 have been continuing their study of medieval life looking at key developments for the country, such as the Magna Carta and the Peasants’ Revolt, as well as lighter topics such as Robin Hood - finding out who he actually was and the truth behind the rumours of him stealing from the rich and giving to the poor.
Year 8 have created some excellent work about the First World War after studying the key events of the war such as the Battle of the Somme and life in the trenches.
Year 9 have made a fantastic start to their American West topic while Years 10 and 11 have been working really hard on continuing their Elizabeth I and Vietnam war GCSE studies.
The History Department would like to congratulate all students for their excellent effort throughout the half-term. Mrs Barton
Om Patel - 7AVG Skye Webster - 7SCO
Samirah Badurdeen - 8SSM
Ellen Charman Lodge - 8SEV Page 16 News, Events & Activities from the
History Department Continued...
Ruby Windsor-Mills - 8SSM
Lewis Bedwell - 9RCL
Page 17 News, Events & Activities from the
German Department...
Students have been using @Languagenut in their German lessons. They have scored th 6,794,700 points in the 30 days up to 15 February! This is a fantastic achievement and puts th us 106 on the global leader-board.
Congratulations to these 5 students, and members of these 5 teaching groups, who are the top 5 on the school leader-board. An extra special well done to 82/Gm1 and 10D/Gm2 who have both scored more than a million points in the 30 days up to 15th February!
If you are learning German and need a reminder of your username and password, please speak to your German teacher. Page 18
News, Events & Activities from the
PSHE & Citizenship/VBE
Department...
Year 7 Citizenship/VBE students have been studying human rights and the rights of the child this term. Alice Fu (7TRA) has expertly analysed the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on children’s education.
Year 8 Citizenship/VBE students have been exploring different forms of discrimination and the Equality Act in recent lessons. Aryan Suryawanshi (8SBR) has written an excellent piece of work about discrimination towards people with albinism.
Mr Harman
Page 19
News, Events & Activities from the P.E. Department...
Normally in January and February the PE Department would be wrapping themselves up for some challenging weather, short daylight hours and journeys across Sussex for fixtures. Hazelwick students would be braving the cold weather for rugby, football and orienteering lessons alongside some indoor sports. This time last year we still had a number of football teams involved in the County Cup competition. It is difficult to think about all of the missed sport over the last 12 months. It has been a challenging time but we have been so pleased with the resilience and motivation the students have shown.
PE lessons have included a number of tasks that students can do in front of screens but the main expectation is for everyone to carry out some form of physical exercise and report back to their PE teacher. We have had some great responses and these have included some fantastic videos and photos of students exercising. Our latest one of these is from Anna in Year 7 (Screen shots attached). Well done, Anna! We have also seen an increase in the number of students using fitness apps to capture their exercise data. These are a great way of showing how hard students are working. I have included a screen shot from ‘strava’ from one of the Hazelwick community as an example.
The Sussex School Virtual Winter Games has restarted and we will be pushing for more involvement in this after half term. More details to come from Mrs Reynolds, our Healthy Schools Coordinator.
We all look forward to sunnier and sportier times.
Mr O’Brien
Page 20
Sport Continued...
Specsavers ‘Virtual’ Sussex School Games: The Winter Games
Over the past three weeks, Hazelwick students and staff have been participating in the Virtual Sussex Schools Winter Games. Each week, Active Sussex set four fun challenges that can be completed in the comfort of your own home. With one week to go, Hazelwick is placed 18th out of 68 schools in the student category and 16th out of 113 in the active adults category.
The School Games is a national programme, funded by Sport England through National Lottery funding and supported by the Department of Culture Media and Sport and the Department of Health. For details of how to get involved and contribute to the school total, please see www.sussexschoolgames.co.uk.
Mrs Reynolds Page 21
News, Events & Activities from Heads of Year 7...
Head of Year Lockdown Challenge
The Heads Of Year asked Year 7 students to use their creative skills (during their permitted one exercise of the day) to take a photo of the town and countryside they live in. This could include areas of natural beauty, architecture of Crawley, your residential area or the best of nature in winter.
We had lots of outstanding entries but could only select three for the book token prizes.
Below are the pictures chosen from Beau Bradshaw, Grace Hilton and Shrey Mathur.
Well done!
Mr Bagnall
Jurassic World by Beau Bradshaw
Grace Hilton
Shrey Mathur Page 22 Initial Teacher Training at Hazelwick
During lockdown Hazelwick staff have continued in their commitment to providing the best possible training for new teachers. Mentor meetings have continued, at a distance, training sessions have taken place on Zoom and our new teachers have undertaken lesson observations and have been provided with feedback.
The quality of learning observed in Zoom lessons has been great! Our new colleagues have been superb at providing challenging online lessons to keep our students learning.
On 10th February Hazelwick staff delivered an online lecture via Microsoft Teams to 200 trainee teachers from the University of Brighton. As a school we are committed to working with our partners at Brighton University, an outstanding provider of initial teacher training. The lecture was really well received by university staff and teachers in the early stages of their career, with the following feedback being given about the work of Hazelwick staff:
Loved this lecture - so much energy! Thank you
Yes thank you so much for your time today
Thanks so much, really helpful
Thank you I loved this
Thank you so much - this was so inspiring! I hope we will be able to engage in more conversation like this
Thank you so much! I loved the passion you bought to this lecture
Thank you, this has been brilliant!
If you are a graduate and are considering training as a teacher and would like to discuss routes into teaching, please email our Professional Tutor, Mr Lockwood, on: [email protected] We are always happy to support new entrants into the Teaching Profession.
Creative Crawley
I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to contribute to the start-up of an organisation in Crawley called “Creative Crawley”. They had a two-day event at the end of January to celebrate the creativity of this town over lockdown. With my role as the Deputy Member of The Youth Parliament for Crawley and East Grinstead, I was able to work with the producer Louise Blackwell and suggest some ideas so that young people could also get involved, hence, coming up with the idea of a writing workshop that was run by local spoken-word artist Woodzy.
With this, I had the opportunity to perform my own spoken-word poems at their opening and their finale. I performed my poems “Knives by Us'' and “Shards of Heart”. It was an amazing experience, even though it was live streamed online and not in person. I am working with them in the future to get more creative opportunities for the young people in Crawley too!
Iffat Rahman 11SKH
Page 23
House News... February has been a busy month for house events with multiple events taking place from home, meaning that you can still get involved, win points for your house and maybe even receive a purple slip!
Pet Photo Competition Learning from home has given us all some time to appreciate our furry, scaly, feathery, woolly and slimy friends even more than usual. Our pets are a welcome comfort and being around them more than usual has allowed us to capture some wonderful pictures of their sweet faces and mischievous capers. Miss Davis and Miss Podsiadly were overwhelmed by the number of entries to the pet photo competition and split the winners into categories. Here are just some of the adorable winning pets! The overall House winner of the Pet Photo Competition was Duleep Singh, earning themselves 4,000 points! Well done!
Feathery Friends Yasmina Mohammed 8GGR – Winton
Doggy Comedians Faith Evans 10AHA - Fry
Kitten Winner Hassan Qureshi 7SLA – Duleep Singh
Slimy and Scaly Friends Talya Saltoglu 8CBY - Equiano
Dogs Who Think They’re Human Florence Basson 8SBR - Turing Page 24
House News Continued... Limerick Competition
Students also had the opportunity to exercise their creativity and wittiness with the Limerick Competition. Writing a limerick requires a lot of skill – you must use five lines, use a distinctive rhyme and rhythm and try to make it funny. Miss Stokes was so impressed by how students stepped up to the challenge and created some incredible poems. It was very difficult to pick a winner, but here are the fantastic results:
Third Place
Juwairiya Kazi 9ZBA – Duleep Singh
There once was a girl named Pandora She was quite a curious explorer She opened a box Broke all its locks and everything turned out to be a terrible horror
Second Place
Joel Laffy-Evison 7TRA - Winton
There once was a boy named Joel Who fell down the world’s deepest hole His fall was a failure Thought he’d end in Australia But instead landed in the north pole.
Winner
Caitlyn Pelissier 7STU – Seacole
There once was girl called Caitlyn Who was stuck in lockdown and hatin' Good news was to come Soon there would be holiday fun Which means she could have a nice long lay in!
The overall House winner for the Limerick Competition was Seacole, earning themselves 1,200 points! Page 25
House News Continued...
Keep an eye out for upcoming events this term. Check messages from your tutor and look out for updates on Satchel:one for ways you can get involved in House Challenges and Competitions.
Enter all you can to keep winning points for your House and the opportunity to receive a purple slip!
Miss Brown Head of Turing House
Page 26
Careers Café...
In this section of the newsletter, we bring students, parents and carers information on careers and the world of work.
Virtual Careers Interviews
We are delighted to let you know that we have started a programme of Virtual Careers Guidance Interviews, initially with students in Year 11.
The meeting will be with our careers advisor from the Education Development Trust, Mrs Gibbs-Halbert and will take place via Zoom. Mrs Gibbs-Halbert will contact students on their school email account to confirm their meeting time. It is vital that students check their emails regularly to ensure that they don’t miss their invitation.
During the 30 minute careers meeting, students will be able to explore their career aspirations and discover the steps that they need to take to achieve their study and career goals. A careers action plan will be completed during the meeting and emailed to the student within one week of the meeting taking place.
Please contact your Head of Year Team, or Mrs Frost ([email protected]) if you would like to request an appointment.
Virtual Employer Encounters - Half Term
Our careers partner Education Development Trust invited students to attend Virtual Employer Encounters sessions over half term.
The aim of the sessions was to give students the opportunity to hear first-hand from employers across the UK and learn more about working in a particular sector or job role. There were a wide variety of organisations and industries represented during the week. We hope that students who took advantage of this opportunity found it beneficial.
Monthly Key Skills Focus
Each month this year, we will focus on a different employability skill. These are the skills that you need for the world of work – and they are pretty important for life as well! By developing employability skills, you will improve your chances of getting a job and thriving in your career. There are lots of different ways to develop them – including in lessons or extracurricular activities at school, in a Saturday or holiday job, doing projects in your own time or work experience.
Page 27
Careers Café Continued...
This month’s skill: Professionalism
As a school leaver, there's a chance that you've never really experienced being in a professional environment other than school. For this reason, employers often find younger job applicants a bit too laid back. When applying for jobs, it's important that you show that you have a professional approach to work and that you understand the importance of maintaining high standards. When you are communicating with an employer, be that in an email, on a telephone or video call, or during virtual work experience, make sure you do your best to come across as professional. If you have a job interview, make the effort to look professional and dress the way that employees of that company would dress.
Hazelwick Alumni
It is great to be able to share career stories from Hazelwick Alumni. This month we meet Dr Ashley Fly, Lecturer in Vehicle Electrification at Loughborough University. Ashley studied A Levels in Maths, Physics and Design Technology at Hazelwick.
“We all know the world is going through a climate crisis, and transport currently contributes over 20% of global CO2 emissions. Zero emission electric vehicles, powered by renewable electricity, will help reduce transport emissions as well as reducing harmful particulate emissions from burning petrol and diesel.
My research looks at how best to operate batteries in electric vehicles so you can drive longer, have a more accurate range estimation, and increase the overall lifetime of the battery before it is recycled. This includes looking at how to heat and cool the batteries so they are at the ideal temperature and how to perform ‘health -checks’ on the battery to identify potential faults and predict how much lifetime the battery has left.
Battery research is a very diverse community requiring a wide range of skillsets; we need chemists and material scientists to develop new battery materials, chemical engineers to scale up production, manufacturing, mechanical and automotive engineers to make the battery packs and vehicles and electrical and systems engineers to work on the control and management systems.
Working and interacting with people from so many fields means you are always learning something new, even if you are an expert in one area! I also like to work closely with industry in my research and have worked on electric vehicles with a range of automotive companies including Ford, Jaguar Land Rover and McLaren Applied.
I never considered becoming an academic when doing my A Levels, but it’s what I do now and I love it!”
Page 28
Careers Café Continued...
Ashley’s advice: Be confident in yourself and your ability to succeed and avoid underselling yourself when looking into the future.
Also, make a career plan. Research the qualifications and skills you will need to achieve that goal, but don’t be afraid to change and adapt your plan as you learn more.
ONS Report of Impact of Coronavirus on Industries
ONS have published a report on the impact of the coronavirus on industries to date which depicts the industries which have thrived, struggled or recovered. For example, the Accommodation and Food Services activities shrunk by 90% compared to the previous year but Public admin and defence saw consistent growth. Chemists too constantly traded above pre-pandemic levels as did Camping whilst the accommodation industry was down. For the full report click on the link.
Careers with a Spark
The Electrotechnical Skills Partnership have issued a downloadable resource which shows different routes into the Electrical trade. The website is also good to find out more about careers in the Electrical Industry and includes a video. https://www.electricalcareers.co.uk
Mrs Andrews
Page 29
Read On!
Fantasy Fiction Focus
One of the frequent requests I receive is from parent/carers and students seeking new fantasy authors and series recommendations, especially for those readers who have completed the ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Percy Jackson’ series. I thought I would feature some of the fantasy authors that are popular with Hazelwick students. I have included the links to the official website for each author for the full series listing and story synopsis.
Cressida Cowell
Readers will be familiar with Cowell’s popular fantasy dragon series (and film) ‘How To Train Your Dragon’. Cowell’s Hazelwick fans were delighted when the author announced that she was writing a new fantasy series about wizards. The fact that there are wizards in the ‘Wizards of Once’ series ensures that these titles make the top of my recommendations list for ‘Harry Potter’ fans. There are currently four books in the series that feature the central characters of a young boy wizard and a girl warrior who have grown up as enemies and must now work together.
https://www.cressidacowell.co.uk/landing-page/cressida-cowell/cressida-cowell-about/
Abi Elphinstone
Elphinstone’s ‘Dreamsnatcher’ series has proved popular with the Year 8 students who have really enjoyed the magical adventures of twelve-year-old Moll and her pet wildcat. As foretold by an oracle, the two must fight against the evil magic of the Dreamsnatcher. The trilogy continues with ‘The Shadow Keeper’ and ‘The Night Spinner’. In 2019 the author released her new fantasy series ‘The Unmapped Chronicles’ that relates the adventures of eleven-year-old Casper Tock.
http://www.abielphinstone.com/ Page 30
Read On Continued….
Michelle Harrison
The author had published her first book in 2009 with the first title in the ’13 Treasures Trilogy’ but it was her second series that grabbed the attention of Hazelwick students. The ‘Pinch of Magic’ series features three sisters who take up the quest to break the curse that has been cast upon their family. Fans of the series have found the mix of sorcery, smugglers and shipwrecks enthralling. In addition to the fantasy adventure elements, I think the family dynamics aspect of the stories also appeals to readers.
https://www.michelleharrisonbooks.com/
Garth Nix
Nix is an Australian author who worked in the publishing trade before turning to writing full-time and he is prolific. He excels at writing several engaging fantasy series for young people. The fact that he writes series appeals to the ‘Harry Potter’ fans. His series include ‘Abhorsen’, ‘Seven Towers’ and ‘Keys to the Kingdom’. He has also written two series with the author Sean Williams which are aimed at slightly younger readers; ‘Troubletwisters’ and ‘Have Sword, Will Travel’. He also writes stand-alone novels and his latest book is entitled ‘The Left-Handed Booksellers of London’. This story relates a girl’s quest to find her father. In her travels, she meets the magical fighting booksellers who police and protect the ‘Old World’. I have added this title to my ‘Must Read’ list as the idea of fighting magical booksellers sounds intriguing, as does the fact that one of the characters is named Merlin. I think this title will appeal to readers who enjoy stories of alternate worlds.
http://www.garthnix.com/books/
S.A. Patrick
This title featured on the ‘Bookbuzz’ list of titles last year and I received several requests for the sequel as soon as the first book was read! There are two books so far in the ‘Songs of Magic’ series and I love the idea of a city where humans and dragons live side by side. Students really took the central characters to their hearts and I think it is this friendship, combined with the fast-paced fantasy adventure action that gives the series its appeal. I do hope there are more titles to follow!
https://www.fantasticfiction.com/p/s-a-patrick/songs-of-magic/ Page 31
Read On Continued….
Rick Riordan
‘Percy Jackson’ fans (and he has many fans at Hazelwick School) may be unaware that the author has written a series that is not set in the realms of the Greek gods. The author turns to the Norse legends for his ‘Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard’ series. In ‘The Sword of Summer’, the reader is introduced to Magnus and his uncle that his mother described as dangerous. His uncle informs Magnus that he is actually the son of a Norse god and that the gods of Asgard are planning for battle. Magnus accepts the quest to find the magical lost sword if he is to prevent Ragnarok. In addition to ‘Percy Jackson’ fans, this series will appeal to any reader who has an interest in Norse mythology and readers who have read Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’ but not quite ready for ‘The Lord of the Rings’ series.
https://rickriordan.com/
Jessica Townsend
This Australian author published her first book ‘Nevermoor’ in 2017 and won two awards for her writing. This title was followed up by ‘Wundersmith’ and ‘Hollowpox’ and students have taken to her inventive blend of magical adventure and humour. Central character Morrigan Crow’s life changes when she is asked to join the mystical ‘Wundrous Society’ but she must complete four magical trials. This will appeal to the ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Worst Witch’ fans who relish the magical school elements of the stories.
https://www.fantasticfiction.com/t/jessica-townsend/
Anthony Hororwitz
If you are looking for an author to widen your child’s reading into different genres and/or to make the crossover to Adult Fiction titles, I would heartily recommend the author Anthony Horowitz. In addition to his popular ‘Alex Rider’ spy series, he has also written the horror/fantasy series ‘The Power of Five’ and ‘The Legends’ series. The author has also written Adult Fiction novels that feature Sherlock Holmes and his own murder mystery series ‘Magpie Murders’ and the ‘Detective Daniel Hawthorne’ crime novels. Horowitz has also written two titles in the Adult Fiction ‘James Bond’ series; ’Trigger Mortis’ and ‘Forever and a Day’. I often recommend these titles to students who have enjoyed the ‘Alex Rider’ books but who need to make the move to Adult Fiction.
https://www.anthonyhorowitz.com/ Page 32
Read On Continued….
I thought I would also share my top fifteen fantasy authors with you and I have separated them into younger and older Teens/Adults.
Fantasy authors for younger Teens:
Tomi Adeyemi Victoria Aveyard Leigh Bardugo Holly Black Cassandra Clare Eoin Colfer Joseph Delaney Chris d’Lacey Kate O’Hearn Christopher Paolini Philip Pullman Terry Pratchett Alex Scarrow Jonathan Stroud Tui T Sutherland
Fantasy authors for older Teens/Adults:
Joe Abercrombie Terry Brooks Trudi Canavan David Eddings Raymond E. Feist Neil Gaiman David Gemmell Robin Hobb Ursula K Le Guin George R.R. Martin Sarah J Maas Anne McCaffrey Richelle Mead Robert Rankin Tad Williams
Keep Reading and Happy World Book Day!
Mrs Thornton BA (Hons) MCLIP School Librarian Page 33 Accelerated Reader...
Millionaire Readers
There are six new millionaire readers this month.
Congratulations to: Emily Hammond (8SEV), Abigail Flynn (7EJE), Aidan Young (7MOW), Rohan Patel (7SLA), Sean Cumbers (7JPL) and Hashir Gul (7TRA). An excellent achievement; well done to you all!
World Book Day 2021
World book day this year is on Thursday 4th March.
As in previous years, students are entitled to a £1 book voucher. This year, in light of the current restrictions, there are digital vouchers being offered that will be sent out via Wisepay to enable students to purchase one of the 12 World Book Day titles.
The new single-use £1 digital token can be printed out or shown to booksellers/supermarket staff on a phone or tablet screen. Unfortunately, the token cannot be used to purchase books online.
Students can also put their voucher towards a full priced book (priced at £2.99 or over) and receive £1 off the list price.
Details of participating retailers, where the vouchers can be redeemed is on the website below. During the week of World Book Day Accelerated Reader quizzes will be available on the £1 book titles. It is a great opportunity for the students to try a book by a new author and a new book genre and it’s completely free!
The World Book Day website has information on all of the £1 books available, along with free resources and activities for all ages. There are some fantastic reading lists to inspire readers and a selection of author podcasts too. www.worldbookday.com Page 34 Accelerated Reader Continued...
As always, the selection of free book titles offered for World Book Day is varied, with lots of well-known authors, including:
Derek Landy Skulduggery Pleasant – Apocalypse Kings Three ancient gods are freed from their prison with only one desire: to destroy the planet and everyone on it. To save us all, Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain must go undercover in a Dublin school. Skulduggery has to blend in with the teaching staff, while Valkyrie has to pass for an ordinary schoolgirl. Above all else, no matter what happens, they both must act completely and utterly normal. We are so dead. A must read for Skulduggery fans! Please note: Not suitable for younger readers.
Humza Arshad and Henry White Little Badman and the Radioactive Samosa You’ve heard of Little Badman, right? No? Oh. Well. . . Doesn’t matter. You will do one day. He’s gonna be big. Twelve-year-old Humza Khan, aka Little Badman is, amongst lots of other things: Eggington’s greatest rapper, a ninja, an all-round legend. That’s all according to Humza. And, to be honest, Eggington (his home town) is quite small. He has saved the world a couple of times though – from alien slugs and evil time-travelling teachers. They are very cool adventures, and we’ll tell you about them some time, but this story will blow your mind. Humza and his two friends, Umer and Wendy, have narrowly avoided being hit by rock from outer-space. What does get hit, though, is a box of delicious samosas, which turn . . . radioactive. The three friends wake up the next day to find they have superpowers, which is pretty cool. What’s less cool is the giant hamsters roaming the town. Looks like a job for Little Badman and his crew . . . A funny, action packed read!
Holly Jackson Kill Joy Pippa Fitz-Amobi is not in the mood for her friend’s murder mystery party. Especially one that involves 1920’s fancy dress and pretending that their town, Little Kilton, is an island called Joy. But when the game begins, Pip finds herself drawn into the make-believe world of intrigue, deception and murder. But as Pip plays detective, teasing out the identity of the killer clue-by-clue, the murder of the fictional Reginald Remy isn’t the only case on her mind . . . Find out where it all began for Pip in this prequel to the best-selling A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder and Good Girl, Bad Blood. Contains mature content. Not suitable for younger readers.
If you would like any further information about the accelerated reader scheme, please feel free to e-mail me directly. [email protected] Mrs E Gray Accelerated Reader Mentor Page 35
Spotlight on Safeguarding...
For your information this month, via the Newsletter, we are raising awareness of the positivity of young people, their acts of kindness and good mental health.
Since the start of the pandemic, the majority of news coverage about how young people have been coping has focused on the negative impact, such as poor mental health and lost school time. It is of course important not to under estimate the significant impact that that Covid-19 has had on young people. However, young people have also shown positivity, kindness and resilience during such unprecedented times. The Children’s Society have used the phrase “lockdown positivity” to describe how some young people used lockdown to help develop themselves. One young person interviewed said “I’ve started doing home workouts for exercise and I’ve tried cooking and trying new foods.” A survey of Duke of Edinburgh’s Award participants has revealed that 47% of the young people surveyed have learned a new skill or rediscovered an old one during lockdown. Many young people have also been carrying out good deeds and acts of kindness to help lift the mood of others during lockdown. A group of school children in Worcester wrote to care home residents to help cheer them up during lockdown and a teenager in Staffordshire has helped to raise money for disadvantaged young people who do not have access to communication devices such as a computer. Sebbie Hall’s good deeds did not stop there and each day he would carry out random acts of kindness such as collecting food leftovers for foodbanks, helping neighbours with dog walks and giving out biscuits to local police officers.
For many young people, not feeling very positive at the moment is understandable, however some small simple steps can help to work towards a more positive mind set and good mental health. The mental health foundation say that acts of kindness towards others have the added benefit of reducing your own stress and improve emotional wellbeing. It could be as simple as young people sending a motivational text to a friend who is struggling, arranging to watch a film at the same time as a friend and video call or to tell a family member how much they love and appreciate them.
For some young people, building a more positive mind set could be making plans for the future which will help them develop and work towards achieving goals. A young person has been quoted on the YoungMinds website as saying “Give yourself a goal each day. Having something to aim for will give you a purpose, and mini goals are particularly great in giving yourself a confidence boost.”
For secondary school students wanting to develop confidence and important life skills such as team work they could consider planning to join the National Citizens Service when they are older. The NCS is a programme for young people aged 16 to 17 where they get to mix with other young people of their age and get involved in fun team building exercises together. After this they carry out a project to help improve their local community which helps them develop skills for their future while also doing something positive for where they live.
Where to get support:
YoungMinds - https://youngminds.org.uk/blog/young-peoples-self-care-tips-for-self-isolation/ National Citizens Service - https://wearencs.com/ Childline - https://www.childline.org.uk/info-advice/your-feelings/mental-health/taking-care-of- yourself/parents/mental-health-parenting/ Page 36
Oxbridge Opportunities...
All students who are thinking about applying to Oxford or Cambridge Universities (or indeed any student who has a passion for a particular subject) should be looking to broaden their subject knowledge from Year 7 upwards. There are a number of great (free!) online opportunities for 12 to 16 year olds who are looking to expand their ‘super curricular’ activities in subjects such as English, Modern Languages, History, Politics, Maths and Science.
Please see the link below:
For students 12 to 16 | University of Oxford https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/increasing-access/ug-digital-resources/students-12- 16
The fabulous ‘Oxplore’ website is also going to start a live book club for 11-14 year olds:
Oxplore | The Home of Big Questions https://oxplore.org/
Students in Year 12 may also be interested to know that applications to the Oxford University access programme can now be made. For more information, see:
UNIQ - University of Oxford https://www.uniq.ox.ac.uk/
Finally, a couple of opportunities from Cambridge University for state-school students in Year 9 and Year 10. The first one is a university taster webinar for Year 9 students at Downing College and the second is for Year 10 girls interested in STEM.
https://www.dow.cam.ac.uk/outreach/year-9-university-taster-webinar
https://www.sel.cam.ac.uk/joining-selwyn/undergraduates/access-and-outreach/women-stem
Ms S Gratton
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